Deal
by x Ino Fan x
Summary: In which Ino visits Naruto in the hospital after one of his failed missions to retrieve Sasuke where no one else will. [[Naruto x Ino]]


Deal

**Turn back now if you hate NaruIno. D Mkay, here we go.**

---

Ino stepped into the hospital room with a flower arrangement she had made herself. A red flower in the midst of a forest of orange. She wasn't quite sure why she was here herself. Maybe she felt sorry that no one else had the heart to tell him that the latest of his 'Retrieve Sasuke' missions had failed. Or maybe it was because the latest time they had talked he had told her that he had been called a failure his whole life and was going to bring Sasuke back, no matter what. And soon. She had smiled at him, and for once realized that he believed in himself, despite everyone doubting him. She figured maybe she could try that too.

She set the flowers down quietly, and opened the blinds. The room was dark and sad. Tears almost came to her eyes where she saw him fumbling with his headband in his hands.

"Who sent you. Sakura?" He asked slowly, his words biting her. She shook her head, forcing herself not to look at him.

"I came for myself." She said, her words curt. If he wasn't going to be strong, then she had to.

"I don't understand. Why did you come when you barely know me and Sakura-chan didn't? Or Kakashi-sensei…even Hinata…or maybe Shikamaru…" He rambled on, listing the names of the friends who hadn't seen him for days and refused to see the person who gave them courage in their weakest state of mind.

"Maybe I came because I wanted to get to know you. Then the next time I come before all of them you can say that a friend of yours came to see you, not someone who doesn't know you." She explained, her temper getting worked up, but she couldn't blame him. Maybe Sasuke just wasn't worth it anymore. But he would never see it like that. And that's why she cared about him.

"Fine." Was all he said, staring down at his headband again. "Can I…can I talk to you, then?" He asked, almost desperately, his blue eyes meeting hers. She blinked.

"Why not?" She said, and pulled up a chair next to him. "What's up?"

"They don't think I can do this, do they?" Was the first thing he said after a while. Ino hated lying.

"The majority of them…no. But Sakura does…Kakashi-sensei….and I do." She said carefully, giving him a sad smile.

"How am I going to live this down?" Naruto said quietly, his eyes watery. He clutched his headband hard. "I'm tired of failing! I'm tired of being doubted, and I'm tired of brushing it off every second I doubt myself." He said, looking down again, his eyes angry.

"Then don't let them bother you. Just like I didn't let it bother me when you yelled for Sakura to win the Chuunin exams match we were in and no one on my team yelled for me to win." She said with a smirk.

"How do you do it?" He asked in slight awe. She looked at him, surprised.

"Do what?" 

"Every time something bad happens to you, you look at the sunny side of things. You're an eternal optimist who has felt real pain…real loss…but here you are, making witty comments and smiling and coming to talk to me when no one else will." He said, looking at her with those sad blue eyes again. She played with an orange flower and beamed at him.

"I just see a good thing in every bad thing. Like…when Asuma died, I learned to be independent. And when my dad died, I figured out tons of new jutsus centered around the Shintenshin, and then became Ibiki-sensei's student in interrogation. And since you failed on this mission, we get to talk. Isn't that almost a good thing?" She asked, her own blue eyes searching his. He laid back and nodded slowly.

"Yeah. Yeah, it is." He said, and then broke into his happy-go-lucky smile. "Thanks, Ino. You know, I think that maybe I could use some of your optimism from now on." He said with a smirk.

"I'll trade it for your courage."

"Deal."

And it was sealed with a quick kiss to the lips by Ino, who winked, then proceeded to leave. He was too much in awe to do anything for a few minutes, then blushed.

"I wonder if she'll mind me calling her Ino-chan…"

---

**A/N:** And there it is. Soon to be a two-shot. Maybe. 3 Yes, this is one of my favorite crack couples.


End file.
